May left school this week. We packed up the boot of the barely airconditioned Polo with the life of a sixth form finisher: sheaves of highlighted revision notes escaping from files, many mismatching socks and an 18 year old soft toy dog, loved to silk. She set off for a probably quite shitty grad ball and I for home, with Big Feelings. Hard to describe but with echoes of unrequited crush. There is an untranslatable word in Portuguese for a feeling of longing for something you have lost and at the same time being grateful for having experienced it. Saudade. I do not know if it is a noun or a verb. But yes, saudade.
‘Love you, Mum,’ she said, giving me a hug as we set off on our different paths. ‘And by the way, you do know I still can’t cook, don’t you?’ Major mike drop.
Having slept on it, it’s not perhaps as bad as it sounds. She is a terrific eater. Broad-ranging and brave; a relatively unfussy vegetarian with a penchant for the many hot sauces of the world. I know that she can in fact make (very well) an Ottolenghi dish involving sweet potato and chilli-spiked crumbled tofu because she made it about 1,000 times a couple of years ago. So frequently none of us will ever be able to face it again. Mugcakes aside, it was her single flare of interest.
And so I am home, with many, many washing machine loads to get through and an uncannily quiet kitchen. Of course I should leave the washing for her to do. And yet and yet, I am compelled to be useful. More than the washing, the most useful thing I can do is figure out what she needs to learn in the kitchen to be able to feed herself – and hopefully others – when she sets off for uni in September.
Bug, here’s the first of an irregular series for you. I love you very much. Xoxox Mum
On Protein for Vegetarians
It always starts with protein, doesn’t it? Protein availability is how the nutritional health of the world is measured. We in the privileged West are mostly over-proteined whilst developing nations struggle for it. It is one of the great global imbalances and nothing can truly get better until it is fixed. I am not a fan of meat alternatives so I’m going to stay focused on a few ideas for some things to keep in the cupboard to eat with everything. A few set-up thoughts:
1. You are no longer growing and you don’t need as much protein as the wellbeing movement will tell you.
2. Protein comes in lots of different guises, it’s not just a thing on a plate in its own category. It can be a snack and it can be a pudding. Even what looks like carbohydrate can be have a decent protein content. Seeded loafs and rolls. Nut cakes. Porridge. Greek yoghurt. Pasta. It’s all over the place. You don’t need to worry too much about it unless you take up sport in a major way.
3. Think of your balance of food over the course of a few days not within each meal or even across one day. If you’ve hit day 3 of plain rice and you’re feeling knackered, you might want to do something about variety.
Dukkah
Nuts, seeds and spices. Lasts in a jar for ages, bags of flavour, great for protein, gut health and crunch. Scatter over salad, veg, eggs, soup, dips, dhal, into sandwiches, you name it.
150g blanched hazelnuts (or whatever nuts you can get your hands on)
4 tbs sunflower seeds
3 tbs sesame seeds
3 tbs coriander seeds
2 tbs cumin seeds
1 tsp flaky salt
2 tsp paprika
To pimp, eg: fennel seeds, chilli flakes, sumac
Oven to 180. Spread hazelnuts on a tray and roast for 5 mins, shake to turn and add sunflower seeds. Roast for another 5-10 minutes till golden and start to pop. Meanwhile in a dry pan over a medium heat, add the sesame seeds. Toast for a minute, then add the cumin and coriander and toast again for about 1 minute until they pop and smell fragrant. Allow to cool then briefly crush everything together, either in a processor or with pestle and mortar till you have a rough crumble (but beware not to let it become a paste). Stir through the salt and paprika. When fully cooled, transfer to a sealable container. Goes with everything (but not cereal).
Soy-toasted Seeds
Sunflower seeds are cheaper than pumpkin but I do love a pumpkin seed. Great for snacks or to scatter over most things when you get fed up with Dukkah. Eat them all the time in between everything else. When you are very bored try to eat one at a time to prevent scoffing.
To make: cover the bottom of a pan with your seed of choice and toast over a medium flame, shaking, till golden and popping. Working quickly, add a dash or two of soy sauce, stirring all the time till the seeds are coated, crisp and dry. Immediately tip out onto a plate and allow to cool. Fab as snacks and over salads, see above.
Marinaded Chickpeas
The queen of complete foods: protein+fibre+carb in one. They will make houmous, they will make curry, they will go into salad, rice, anything. Never be without. Very simple, cheaper and nicer to batch-cook from dried if you have the time, space and patience. I urge you to have a go. Otherwise, look for the larger ones as they will have a nicer texture and go for ones canned simply in water rather than preservatives. If you can find jarred Spanish ones in big international food shops, they are much nicer and will not be as expensive as the English versions now everywhere. Here’s a dressing/marinade that will continue to improve for a few days if you can wait. Will keep for a week in the fridge.
2 tins chickpeas
60ml olive oil
6 tbsp sherry or cider vinegar
5 spring onions, topped, tailed and finely sliced or 1 minced shallot
1 fat garlic clove, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
Generous pinch of salt and scramble of fresh pepper
Strain off the chickpea liquid and combine all the ingredients together.
“And by the way…” Great line May, beautifully timed for maximum effect.
Lovely poignant piece.
I’m making dukkah again and buying more chickpeas!